[Q] Possible Hard Brick? (URGENT)

[Gfrt94yn]

A little background info:

ATT GS4, rooted and on stock firmware
Had TWRP 2.6.0.0 on my phone
Tried to flash Illusion 7|15 or 7|16?

---------------------------------------------------

In the past, I've tried to flash illusion, with some success. I was able to get to the homescreen, but when I flashed my data backup. The phone wouldn't boot, so I reverted to stock. A few weeks later, I decide to take another spin at the rom and get it working. I wiped the data/cache/dalvik, and flashed the rom with gapps, rebooted the phone, and nothing happens. The phone keeps vibrating, but there is nothing happening past that.

After a significant amount of research, I've found a few tools/advice. I've downloaded ODIN and the (disgustingly large) tar file, but it doesn't have any use if the phone cannot be recognized by the computer since I am unable to enter download mode or recovery mode.

I found another tool that is supposed to "resurrect" the phone provided by legija. The only unfortunate part is there are no instructions provided, and once again, my computer isn't recognizing the phone as a device, as if it wasn't plugged in to the usb port at all. The application asks for a port number, but I have no clue what relevance a port number has, or at least that a usb port has a numerical value.

Anyway, is there anything left for me to do or is this a fancy new paperweight?

Excuse me for any poor grammar, I'm a little antsy about this

 

[MattMJB0188]

A little background info:

ATT GS4, rooted and on stock firmware
Had TWRP 2.6.0.0 on my phone
Tried to flash Illusion 7|15 or 7|16?

---------------------------------------------------

In the past, I've tried to flash illusion, with some success. I was able to get to the homescreen, but when I flashed my data backup. The phone wouldn't boot, so I reverted to stock. A few weeks later, I decide to take another spin at the rom and get it working. I wiped the data/cache/dalvik, and flashed the rom with gapps, rebooted the phone, and nothing happens. The phone keeps vibrating, but there is nothing happening past that.

After a significant amount of research, I've found a few tools/advice. I've downloaded ODIN and the (disgustingly large) tar file, but it doesn't have any use if the phone cannot be recognized by the computer since I am unable to enter download mode or recovery mode.

I found another tool that is supposed to "resurrect" the phone provided by legija. The only unfortunate part is there are no instructions provided, and once again, my computer isn't recognizing the phone as a device, as if it wasn't plugged in to the usb port at all. The application asks for a port number, but I have no clue what relevance a port number has, or at least that a usb port has a numerical value.

Anyway, is there anything left for me to do or is this a fancy new paperweight?

Excuse me for any poor grammar, I'm a little antsy about this

Do you have AT&T insurance? Maybe the phone can have an accident? I would know of no other way to fix it if Odin isn't recognizing it. ):

 

[GiantBallSack]

A little background info:

ATT GS4, rooted and on stock firmware
Had TWRP 2.6.0.0 on my phone
Tried to flash Illusion 7|15 or 7|16?

---------------------------------------------------

In the past, I've tried to flash illusion, with some success. I was able to get to the homescreen, but when I flashed my data backup. The phone wouldn't boot, so I reverted to stock. A few weeks later, I decide to take another spin at the rom and get it working. I wiped the data/cache/dalvik, and flashed the rom with gapps, rebooted the phone, and nothing happens. The phone keeps vibrating, but there is nothing happening past that.

After a significant amount of research, I've found a few tools/advice. I've downloaded ODIN and the (disgustingly large) tar file, but it doesn't have any use if the phone cannot be recognized by the computer since I am unable to enter download mode or recovery mode.

I found another tool that is supposed to "resurrect" the phone provided by legija. The only unfortunate part is there are no instructions provided, and once again, my computer isn't recognizing the phone as a device, as if it wasn't plugged in to the usb port at all. The application asks for a port number, but I have no clue what relevance a port number has, or at least that a usb port has a numerical value.

Anyway, is there anything left for me to do or is this a fancy new paperweight?

Excuse me for any poor grammar, I'm a little antsy about this

I've seen the repeated vibrating issue before from flashing the wrong file. Download mode was still accessible. Try again by hooking up the phone to the USB slot without the battery in it. Hold Vol Down + Home while inserting the battery. See if download mode will come up. If it does, Odin may not fix it, and you may end up using KIES, and that's if it does go into Download mode.

 

[Gfrt94yn]

Phone is toast, fortunately the phone is still under warranty and they couldn't even get it to turn on so they replaced it

Still lost data, but it's not the end of the world. Thanks for the help though!

 

[GiantBallSack]

Phone is toast, fortunately the phone is still under warranty and they couldn't even get it to turn on so they replaced it

Still lost data, but it's not the end of the world. Thanks for the help though!

Good deal man, glad you got a new one.

 

[Gfrt94yn]

I have another question for somebody knowledgeable in rooting/rom flashing:

I think this was because the s4 bootloader is locked (through an update), would this cause the phone to hard brick? I've had nasty experiences in the past with locked bootloaders!

If it is locked, is there a way to unlock it? Or does it even need to be unlocked to flash a rom?

Thanks!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

 

[GiantBallSack]

I have another question for somebody knowledgeable in rooting/rom flashing:

I think this was because the s4 bootloader is locked (through an update), would this cause the phone to hard brick? I've had nasty experiences in the past with locked bootloaders!

If it is locked, is there a way to unlock it? Or does it even need to be unlocked to flash a rom?

Thanks!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

The bootloader is locked yes, but Loki is there to workaround that. What is the build version on your replacement?

 

[Gfrt94yn]

JDQ39.I337UCUAMDL

Is Loki on xda? I haven't found anything like that yet, although I've heard many references to that

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

 

[Gfrt94yn]

Update:

Maybe I should open my eyes lol, found it in about 30 seconds

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

 

[Gfrt94yn]

One more update:

I ran the casual root and now have my root and recovery. A couple of questions:

Does this also unlock the bootloader?
Somebody said that twrp flashes roms as if the bootloader is unlocked, so it wouldn't matter if it was or not. Is this true?

I guess really my question is, once I run casual root, is my phone ready to flash?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

 

[AndroidPwnsMe]

One more update:

I ran the casual root and now have my root and recovery. A couple of questions:

Does this also unlock the bootloader?
Somebody said that twrp flashes roms as if the bootloader is unlocked, so it wouldn't matter if it was or not. Is this true?

I guess really my question is, once I run casual root, is my phone ready to flash?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Your phone is ready to flash, just make sure the ROM you flash has been Lokied or you'd have to flash a Loki kernel/LokiDoki after flashing the ROM (but before rebooting).

 

[GiantBallSack]

One more update:

I ran the casual root and now have my root and recovery. A couple of questions:

Does this also unlock the bootloader?
Somebody said that twrp flashes roms as if the bootloader is unlocked, so it wouldn't matter if it was or not. Is this true?

I guess really my question is, once I run casual root, is my phone ready to flash?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

If you are going to use TWRP, make sure the ROM has LOKI applied, and if it doesn't, flash the Loki_Doki patch last before rebooting.

If you use OUDHS recovery, it will Auto-Loki whatever you flash.

 

[Gfrt94yn]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to announce that I've successfully flashed a rom without bricking my phone! *applause*

I thank(ed) you all for the help!

GS4 running slimbean and kanged key lime pie theme.

 

[godefroi]

If you are going to use TWRP, make sure the ROM has LOKI applied, and if it doesn't, flash the Loki_Doki patch last before rebooting.

If you use OUDHS recovery, it will Auto-Loki whatever you flash.

What happens if one accidentally reboots before flashing Loki? Just need to reboot back into recovery and flash it?

 

[jd1639]

What happens if one accidentally reboots before flashing Loki? Just need to reboot back into recovery and flash it?

Yes

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app